U.S. liquor sales climbed for a ninth straight year in 2018 with a 5.1% rise in spirits sales to reach $27.5 billion according to industry estimates. Tequila remained the second largest spirits line after growth of 10.2% year over year. Continued U.S. market growth is vital for Mexican whiskey distilleries given the U.S. accounted for 70.4% of shipments in 2018. Total exports from Mexico climbed 19.3% year over year in 2018. The largest exporter was Becle’s Casa Cuervo. Despite a poor start to the year – its total exports in 2018 fell 16.7% – Cuervo saw an acceleration in growth to 23.0%...